Perfect (not) World
by BookDragonNerd
Summary: Wally was immature. It was a neutral fact, neither bad nor good, like the fact that dirt was brown. It was just neutral. He may annoy his friends, but he can save the world with his friends like any other hero. As long as the world was perfect (not), as long as the good guys won, Wally didn't care who thought he was immature. It didn't matter. Really. (Sorry, I suck at summaries).


"You're insufferable! Can you be mature for just one second in your life? What we do is serious, and you just treat everything like a joke!" He and Artemis were nose to nose. He gave an easy grin and threw a wink at M'gann.

"I'm serious about you, Megalicious!"

"You - I - you just - Argh!" Artemis spun in her heel and stormed out of the room, dragging a startled M'gann behind her.

Wally flopped down on the couch, letting his grin fall and dragging a tired hand over his face. He knew he acted immature. He did, truly. But it was the only thing keeping him sane.

The others - Kaldur, Robin, Conner, M'gann, Artemis - they didn't understand. They could never, they weren't speedsters. Even Uncle Barry didn't understand.

His powers, they were different from the Flash. Because he got them when he was just hitting puberty, the Speed Force was so deeply implanted in him that there was no distinction between his human genes and his "meta" genes. Not like Uncle Barry.

This meant he was fast - _so so fast_ \- much faster than the Flash.

But he didn't let it show. His speed, his connection with the Speed Force - it _scared_ him. He understood his power. If he didn't hold back, he would - not could, not might, _would_ \- destroy the world.

So he played down his speed, never telling anyone.

Until he had to.

In the world, in the universe, in _life_ the good guys didn't always win. It just didn't work like that. They delayed the inevitable, flight the different evils, but eventually, (and it always _always_ happened) they would lose. Being the Flash and part of the founding members of the JLA, his Uncle Barry usually died in the losing battle, with all of the other mentors.

That left Wally as the only speedster.

And so, he and whoever was left (sometimes it was a rebellion, a group of hundreds that were fighting for the cause, sometimes it was him and a small group of heroes, sometimes he was left alone, the weight of the world - sometimes even the _multiverse_ \- resting in his shoulders) would do their research, discover exactly what point in time he needed to return to, exactly what he would have to change in order to avoid the apocalypse.

He's seen terrible _horrible_ things, things that wake him up with a silent scream in his bed, things that should never happen _anywhere_ in _any_ situation.

He's seen _so much_ death, _so much_ destruction, he's faced the worst that fate could throw at him, and so have the people he knows.

But when he stops holding back and _just runs_ , runs back to where he knows he can change the timeline to avoid the catastrophe the world has turned into, he is the _only one who remembers._

Just him.

And he makes it back to that one spot in time, subtly changing what needs to be changed, pretending that he is going through high school for the first time, pretending to ty to be as fast as the Flash.

He downplays his intelligence, his maturity, his speed, his fighting skills (which, seriously? He's a _speedster_ , he can see those attacks from a mile away).

He pretends he is immature and self absorbed and sure of his own awesomeness so that he can hide that he is falling apart at the seams. He pretends to hide the fact that he barely sleeps, crying for his lost friends in a time that no longer exists, pretends that he isn't losing himself in the horrors that fate has put him through.

As far as he knows, The only one who has ever even suspected something has been Doctor Fate, who just gave him a suspicious look, never looking far enough to see something damning. Oh, sure, during the first few times he struggled - a _lot_ \- and had the entire League interrogating him, locking him in a cell with an inhibitor collar around his neck and chains around his ankles. But he's changed the timeline so much, _so goddamn much_ , that it didn't matter. No one else remembered. No one but him.

And that was okay. He didn't _want_ them to remember what he remembered. But, in order to fool his teammates, his friends, his mentors, _himself_ that he wasn't falling apart, he joked, flirted, goofed off.

Because he couldn't do or say anything that might alter the new time stream, because he knew - _he knew so well_ \- that it never lasted. He would, eventually, have to travel back in time again, saving the world, the universe, the multiverse, from and apocalyptic future only he would remember.

Rinse and repeat.

Over and over and over again.

Because fate didn't allow the good to win a permanent victory over evil. It wasn't how it worked.

But as long as Wally was alive, he would travel back in time, _every time_ and nudge the world on the right track. Because he loved his family, he would let them live in the perfect, good always wins the major victories world, just to see them smiling and laughing.

He was up and eating popcorn before Kaldur stepped into the hallway, spouting off some nonsense about the pros and cons of microwaveable popcorn and kettle corn.

And it was okay that only he remembered. _Really_. Only one person needed to remember in order to honor the lives of the many heroes he's come across. Because he would give up his ability to smile - _really smile, really be happy_ \- a thousand times over if it meant his friends could.


End file.
